Before you go thinking that I have it all together.
That losing all of our dishes.
The ones from our wedding.
The ones that we have shared thousands of meals over.
Was no big deal.
It is a big deal.

Believe me.
I have cried.
I have complained.
I have really, really wanted to hurl the broken pieces at the wall.
Would it feel great to do that?
Yes.
For a minute.
But they still would be broken.
I would have to clean up all over again.
Plus, my wall would be jacked up.

So I don't.
I have really one choice.
Accept and move on.

Whether or not one of the three parties involved takes responsibility and reimburses us.
Or if we have to buy cabinet and dishes on our own.

They are all replaceable.
All but one.

The one that really made me cry.
This one.
In college I worked at a paint your own pottery shop.
Dishes and serving pieces were not on my radar at the time.
If only I knew what my grown up self would want I would have painted dishes and bowls every day.  

But I did paint one bowl.

A bowl that is very special to me.
I bowl that I use every time I eat my favorite meal.


So out of the rubble I picked out the pieces. 
This bowl needed to be rebuilt.

A memory of this time.

Piece by piece I glued.
Little by little it took on a shadow of it's former shape.
I hate puzzles and it came out somewhat crazy.
But I like me some crazy.


Now it has a new purpose.
A bright and happy purpose.
All full of cracks, gaps, and mismatched pieces.
My bowl.
Different.
But still my bowl.

Later on this week I am going to get a babysitter.
Take myself to a pottery studio and make a new bowl.
A better bowl.
A memory that beauty can come from disaster.

It will be aqua.
It will be amazing.

I can't wait.




39 Comments

  1. When I first saw the picture of your cabinet and dishes I thought, "Oh, wow that sucks. But, at least she will get new pretty ones.". But, now hearing you talk about how many meals you've enjoyed over your dishes and that they were your wedding dishes I realize I totally would have cried too. I would just want my old dishes back no matter how pretty the new ones are. I'm sorry :( You have ever right to be sad and cry about it.

    I can't wait to see your new aqua bowl!

    ReplyDelete
  2. aw girl, I cant imagine how mad/frustrated I would be - and I love the bowl you painted and how you re-purposed it . . . that's all the rage these days anyways right? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it's beautiful in its rebuilt state... Symbolic of how the Lord takes our broken pieces and restores and repurposes us!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How you manage to inspire and amaze me on a daily basis...I'll never know!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are so good. Really. You are always setting me back on the right track with a better mind set. Thank you for your example. I really mean it too. I hope you have fun making that new bowl. And I love that you saved the pieces from this one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm so sorry about your dishes!

    I will pray for a reimbursement, cause though it won't change that your first dishes as a married couple are gone, it is the right thing for those involved to do.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good perspective, Julie! I'm sorry about your bowl! I get too attached to inanimate objects...so I think you are moving on faster than I would! I wish I could come paint pottery with you!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow. I am SO sorry. I can't imagine how sad it would be if that happened to us. It's not just the dishes, it's all of the memories that go along with them. I can't wait to see your new bowl and I love your repurposed cherry bowl!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, I totally feel for you! I had the top of a china cabinet come crashing down (actually my husband and his friend knocked it down, but that's another story). Shattered into pieces were my great grandparents toasting glasses, a glass bowl that belonged to my grandparents, along with other dishes. Believe me I cried too! You can replace the dishes, but you can't replace the sentiments attached to them. So go ahead and cry... :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for your words- I always love reading them, but I really needed this one today! I love cherries and I wanted to find one just like it for you- til you said you created it. So now you have to make another creation, but like you said, it will be new and different and part of a more experienced you. Happy potterying :) And may the blessings come...

    ReplyDelete
  11. oh I hurt with you, but I have an idea. I am a lurker but had to post this idea. . do not throw away those broken pieces. . I have an idea of what to do with them. . I am gonna send you a link to one of my posts. . but what I want you to look at is the mirror in the picture of the post I am gonna send you. Do not read the post, just look at the pictures and find the mirror. You could make a mosaic mirror out of these pieces. . maybe even re-break the cherry bowl and add it to the mosaic. . it would be beautiful!! And it would be a reminder of how God can take the broken pieces of our lives and make something absolutely beautiful and unexpected out of them. . oh, I wish I lived near you (I do not know where you live. .if you are in NC tell me) but I would come over and help you create. Ok. .off to find picture for you. I will leave a 2nd comment.

    ReplyDelete
  12. : (

    Your bowl still looks fabulous, and I can't wait to see your new aqua one!

    Big hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  13. ok. . so I got so excited with the idea I had that I just left a comment and went looking for my picture. And now I have read your Feb 15 post with the picture of the broken dishes in the tub. And now see that you had the same idea :) Anyway. . here is the picture of my mosaic mirror. . perhaps it will provide a little inspiration.

    http://theintentionalhome.blogspot.com/2009/10/before-and-after.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. Julie!
    I am SO sorry you had to go through such an awful, chaotic, and stressful accident. Like getting a new kitchen isn't drama enough? You poor thing!
    I love that you glued that bowl back together. And I can't wait to see your new FAB one!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I didn't know you worked at a paint your own pottery studio?? Me too...for 6 years! I swear...I think your my sister from another mister. I can't believe I just typed that. I think your crazy is wearing off on me!! Anyhow, I'm so glad that you got your chance to be sad and frustrated and all those things we need to feel in order to really move forward and build anew.

    I think your cracked up bowl is the prettiest dingle ball holder I've ever seen. Can't wait to see your new creation. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ring the bells that still can ring
    Forget your perfect offering.
    There is a crack in everything,
    That's how the light gets in.
    ~Leonard Cohen


    (Sorry 'bout the accident. I had one once, my most favorite wedding gift. A gorgous Italian ceramic basket of Artichokes from Sylvia Sebastiani herself. Glad the kids were at school, I cried like a baby.)

    ReplyDelete
  17. My grandma once told me, "Broken dish, broken heart" when telling a story about a beloved family heirloom that cracked during a move. I am so sorry you shed tears and held your beloved bowl in pieces. :( You and Jason (and the girls) will eat thousands of meals together still...just on different dishes. A trip to Color Me Mine will be the best kind of retail therapy. :) Big hugs, Queeny.

    ReplyDelete
  18. So my mother-in-law gave me her china when my hubby and I got married. Why me, when she has 4 daughters, I'm not sure... Anyway, when we moved the bottom broke out of a rubbermaid bin that was cold and almost the whole set shattered. Neat gravy boats and and soup tureens. Plates, tea cups, the works... Luckily it was my hubby who was holding it at the time, so if she ever finds out (which I hope she never does) she can be upset with him!? :) Did I mention it was quite rare china made in japan by some fancy artist? Yeah, right now it is our little secret.

    I love the idea of a mosaic! You could do the mirror like someone mentioned or make it a frame with a quote about when life gives you lemons, make CHERRY lemonade! It will always remind you to make good things come from bad things. Which from everything I have ever read on here is so true of your personality!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Okay, This post made me cry.
    Man, I have been emotional all week.
    I am so sorry about your cute bowl (and all your wedding dishes), but I love that you put the bowl together again & have a new use for it.
    Can't wait to see your awesome new aqua bowl that you make. And, can't wait to see the mosaic you create from the old dishes.
    Love you, friend! You are dealing with this WAY more gracefully than I would be.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Cute and I know you will make a better bowl. Modpodge it to fill in the cracks!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh, I never really thought of all the meals shared on those dishes, all the yumminess, the chaos, the time. So sorry, and especially about your bowl... but it is still beautiful!! broken but beautiful (kinda like us... and God is much better with the glue!)
    Anyways, hope you have fun painting a new one (I tried to take my kids to Color Me Mine once and was all kinds of craziness!) and can't wait to see pics!

    ReplyDelete
  22. i wish we could go paint pottery together. i haven't done it in years, probably since i was working in a studio! oh, and (speaking of pom poms) this weekend i painted the kids room the exact color of our favorite aqua dingle balls.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Your new bowl sounds fab! Happy painting! :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. "Life is like a chair of bowlies"?

    Memories don't really need solid reminders....they'll be there no matter what.
    (hope that came out sounding encouraging)

    ReplyDelete
  25. oh i was heartbroken at all your broken dishes. i can totally relate to having sentimental attachements to them. call me crazy too :) but i LOVE how you've brought beauty out of disaster. even with dishes :)

    thanks for sharing & i LOVE that cherry bowl. i think i like it even better broken & loved.

    thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh Julie. That stinks. I am glad you managed to salvage what you could and find a new use for your bowl - even though it isn't the one you intended for it.

    Hope you get out and are able to create something new and fabulous for yourself!

    Happy Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
  27. This post reminds me of Angies over at http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com and how she pieced back together a white vase she'd thrown in anger after the death of her daughter who lived only two hours after birth. She'd read that doing this(breaking and then glue-ing back together, piece by piece) was supposed to be a sort of therapy. And she displays the pitcher out in the open to remind herself that God is the only one who can put us back together. Their story is truly amazing; while hers is a much different situation than yours, shes still a very inspirational person. Very much like yourself ;)
    Im glad you'lll be making a new piece. I wish we had a place like that around here.
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  28. Some day you'll pass that bowl on to your children and they will reminisce about the time mom's cabinet fell and her dishes were destroyed. And out of the rubble she created this bowl. They will always love you for teaching them to pick them selves up and move forward. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I can't wait to see your new bowl and the amazing things you make from your shattered dishes.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I cried a little for you and your dishes and your memories this morning after reading this post and saying a short little prayer for it all. I hope you have an amazing time creating something wonderful and special out of your brokeness, just like Christ did for us.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oh goodness, I cant imagine. I love that you decided to piece that bowl with special meaning back together. That is just beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh, Julie. I'm so sorry!

    I still have a bowl you made for me in college...for Christmas I think? It's RENT themed ....
    Caris loves it & will often eat popcorn out of it.

    I don't know how it has survived our moves.... but it's so sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oh man, I am so sorry. Ugh. Yeah. I would totally cry. Totally.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love the bowl. Aqua though is fun and great for thinking about spring. :) I am sorry to hear about your dishes, they are a fun part of the family too. I would have cried too!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Wow, I wanted to cry as you talked about your favorite dish. I hope you're able to get some new ones and make new memories/

    ReplyDelete
  36. I am so sorry this happened to you! You have ever reason to shed the tears; and I HOPE and PRAY that the guilty party(ies) will pay for the damages, although who can put a price on memories and sentiments? (((hugs)))

    ReplyDelete
  37. I have this soup simmering away in my mom's vintage 1974{ish} avocado green Crock Pot right this very minute right NOW! Umm, I'm using Kraft Singles (18 of them) instead of Velveeta though. It's still fake cheese so it should work?
    And I will eat it out of some random fugly bowl because I have never owned a pretty set of dishes.
    Yet. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  38. I just started following your blog...this week. I love your insight, inspiring words, faith, and "real"ness! Love your broken bowl, and like others have mentioned, the symbolism that we are all broken and only the Lord can put us all back together and love us despite the messiness!

    ReplyDelete